HYDERABAD: Speakers at various programmes held to mark the World Water Day in a number of Sindh towns on Wednesday called for an end to unabated practice of dumping industrial and municipal wastewater and solid waste into freshwater bodies.

Sindh Environmental Pro­tec­tion Agency (Sepa) organ­is­ed a programme in collaboration with the department of chemical engineering, Meh­ran University of Engin­eering and Technology, in Jamshoro where the speakers highlighted the importance of water and emphasised the need for its conservation.

They said that unabated discharge of industrial runoff, municipal wastewater and solid waste, sewage of high-rise buildings and dev­elop­ment projects in urban and rural areas into freshwater bodies was contaminating water, which had affected aquatic biodiversity as well as human health.

At a seminar on World Water Day organised by Sindh Agriculture Univer­sity (SAU), Tandojam, in collaboration with the Research and Development Founda­tion (RDF), researchers, educationists, agriculturists and growers stressed the need for high-efficiency irrigation sys­tem to ensure food security and sustainable agriculture.

They urged the government to avoid discharging industrial, municipal and agricultural waste into canals as it impacted soil and caused diseases among humans as well as livestock in tail-end areas.

Sindh Abadgar Board’s (SAB) Dr Zulfiqar Yousfani said that acute shortage of water was to be experienced in April in the province. It would lead to uncertainty in farm sector and create problems for the community in getting drinking water, he said.

He said that all water accords were flawed as they had failed to resolve issues at the provincial and federal levels. For example, he said, the 1991 accord did not mention how groundwater was to be used.

SAB’s vice president Mahmood Nawaz Shah said that 90 per cent of the population in rural areas and 44pc of urban population lacked access to safe drinking water. Surface and underground water sources were depleting fast and Pakistan might face more challenges in future, he warned.

SAU Vice Chancellor Prof Mujeebuddin Memon Sehrai urged academia to conduct research and transfer technology, while end users should adopt sustainable agriculture practices and efficient use of water to protect natural resources.

John Ryan, county director of Trocaire, said that his organisation was contributing to efforts to improve livelihoods of rural communities in Sindh with the help of local partner organisations.

MIRPURKHAS: Office-bearers and workers of Al Khidmat Foundation and Arts Council participated in a walk organised to observe the World Water Day.

Dr Khalidur Rehman who led the walk said that hepatitis and liver diseases were on the rise due to lack of clean drinking water as people were compelled to drink highly contaminated water.

He lamented that constant flow of sewage into Jarwari Minor, which was the main source of drinking water for the city, had made it highly contaminated.

He advised people to get drinking water from filtration plants.

MITHI: Speakers at a workshop held by Sukaar Fou­n­da­tion in Leeryar Bheel village to mark the World Water Day urged the government to put in place a mechanism for storing rainwater in the desert region.

They urged the government to focus on a water security plan to overcome water crisis in the rain dependent arid zone.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2017